Speed run of Quake 4 on private skill in 26 segments completed on December 29 2005. Available in 320x240 DivX and 640x480 h.264 versions.

Author's comments:
This game is extremely linear. Not only have they removed just about everything that can speed up your progress, like rocket jumping, they have also blocked like 99% of all possible shortcuts with invisible walls. Only one major trick is left to abuse and that is strafe jumping, which doesn't seem to work equally well on all surfaces. All this actually makes it fun to try demolishing this game since they have obviously spent much effort and time in making this game speedrunner hostile. The run was never meant to be a permanent record in any way, I did it just to show that it is possible to rip through this game spite all the restrictions. I hope it will set a standard for future Quake 4 runs and gauge interest in speedrunning this game. I know someone will beat it sooner or later with around 2-3 minutes, unless they find more ways to cut through this game than I did.


Due to hardware limitations I had to record this run with Fraps at only 30 fps, and at many places it drop well below that because this game is demanding even at low quality settings, which pose a few problems. Fraps is like it is and because of that my frame rate can't reach above 30 when recording, making the game quite choppy and hard to play. This can sometimes be seen in the videos as very choppy movie playback. The low frame rate also has an impact on mouse movements and certain scripted events and triggers, and in some rare cases even physics. Many areas where progress seems slow it can often be blamed on the low frame rate messing things up.

A few things that needs an explanation.
-When other marines accompany you these guys MUST survive till the end of the level or till the point in the plot where they are supposed to die/leave, otherwise its game over.
-When marines follow you lifts and elevators are inactive till the marines are on board. You will see me waiting at consoles for marines to catch up now and then, and the AI don't exactly have strafe jump code.
-Weird save in Canyon level. Right after I get out of the truck I save and quit, this is because the loading sequence for the next level usually crashes either Fraps or Quake 4 when recording.
-"Clumsy" save at the end of Aqueducts. The reason for the save is the same as above but my ESC button stopped working properly and the result is what you see. New keyboard bought after this incident.
-Random missed shots. Blame it on the frame rate.
-Not preloading all levels. If I preload certain levels Fraps and Quake 4 cause conflicts in the system and one of them is shut down, therefore all levels are not preloaded resulting in ridiculous loading times for certain levels.

Part 1: Introduction to the Hannibal.
When escorting medic Anderson it is necessary to kill the enemies, otherwise Anderson will stop and shoot them himself and this will delay him with up to 30 seconds. It is much faster to kill them yourself. When I'm talking to Bidwell the path is blocked by an invisible wall, so I can't just run past him. In many areas you must also kill certain enemies for doors to open, that's why you will see a lot of "hunting" in this part. I got a little unlucky with Rhodes and he stopped moving for something like 10 seconds. The biggest reason to why this run can be improved with 2-3 minutes lies in this part. I made it way too long for a close to perfect run. As you will probably see the strafe jumping sort of suck in many places.

Part 2: Interlude in the Hannibal and Canyon.
Not much to say here except that this part is boring. Nothing exciting happens in the Hannibal and you can't affect the speed in Canyon in any way. When Rhodes says "This would go faster if I wasn't being shot at!" doesn't mean I could've done this part faster, he always say that no matter how good you do and he don't work any faster no matter what.

Part 3: Perimeter defence station to Aqueducts annex.
PDS is more or less perfect but I think my harvester fights in the aqueduct levels could've been faster. A lot of redline racing with very low HP and warning sounds going off all the time. When I fight the two last harvesters the HP go as low as 1, I was very close to abort this try but somehow I managed to survive anyway.

Part 4: Nexus hub tunnels.
A coffee break level, lots of chat pauses everywhere. You also need quite a bit of luck to prevent enemies in some of the areas to not play hide and seek with you, if they do a lot of time will be wasted. I managed to skip excessive hide and seek.

Part 5: Nexus hub.
Here Strauss accompanies you during almost the entire level, and this is a real burden. Strauss is a lousy fighter, which means you have to do all the work. Tanks are annoying enemies, they enable their shields as soon as they are attacked and none of your weapons you have at this point can penetrate them. Just before the boss fight I wasn't thinking properly and I picked up nails I didn't need, I lost something like three seconds because of this.

Part 6: Strogg medical facilities (stroggification).
Not much actual playing is done here. The stroggification process is not a cutscene so I can't skip it. If you like watching while a human body is mutilated you might find this part interesting.

Part 7: Strogg medical facilities (action part).
This is where the run finally start to get some serious speed improvement. Thanks to the strogg parts Kane moves a lot faster now, both ordinary running and strafe jumping. Max health and armor is also increased by 25 each, and you gain the ability to use health stations. Not much else to say here, with current known tricks this part is very close to optimal.

Part 8: Construction zone.
Luckily many enemies in this level can be ignored, or killed without stopping. Thanks to the strafing I do the mech moves a little faster than normal. There is also some thinking behind the strafe jump at the end where I go right into the hill. This is a slope-jump-turn and it proved itself to be faster than stop jumping, turn and then start jumping again (curving is not enough here).

Part 9: Dispersal facility.
Perfect, except for the small miss with the button at the end. Taking the right stairwell is not faster, which some may think. There is more debris in that one and the path is ALWAYS blocked by one strogg elite soldier. If I take the left one I still run into enemies but I can just run past them.

Part 10: Recomposition center.
More or less perfect as well, I could've had a little better aim at one of the enemies required to open a door (you will see which one for sure). When Sasaki goes to investigate a sound you have a fixed amount of time to reach the reset button, as long as you push it before he talk again you're in the green. And yes, picking up the lightning gun is required to unlock the door to the next area.

Part 11: Putrification center.
When travelling on the conveyor belts I do not jump, this will only slow down movement thanks to the messed up physics in single player. Killing the three elite soldiers is necessary, otherwise they shoot me in the back with a railgun and then I'm finito. It is also necessary to be careful around the stroyent, in some of the gaps you can't avoid being hit by the hooks if you don't wait. If you get hit by the hooks you will get tossed away and lose lots of time.

Part 12: Waste processing facility (pre-boss area).
This one went very smooth, considering there are lots of things that can go wrong in this level. I split the level into two parts because the boss fight is very hard to finish with a good time.

Part 13: Waste processing facility (boss area).
The weapon sequence I use is so far the fastest I have managed to find, hardest thing is to time the three rockets for the final blow. I wait with firing the lightning gun because the boss is invulnerable(!) till shield is charged and he start to move, so it would just be a waste of ammo to start blasting before that. Some may wonder why I don't use rockets all the time, they do more damage and it has to be faster then, right? No. Thanks to the slow reload of the RL you don't have enough time to finish the boss off before he reach the second recharge station, I have enough rockets to finish him off but the RL is simply too slow to make it all the way. The RL is only suitable for the final blow on this boss.

Part 14: Hannibal revisited and Data storage terminal (beginning).
Another very cinematic part, neither the medical exam or shuttle landing are cutscenes so they can't be skipped. I don't strafe jump in the Hannibal because the design of the level make it useless. The corridors are not long enough so you can pick up any speed, and the ceiling is low and filled with signs and stuff you get stuck in.

Part 15: Data storage terminal.
Thanks to the shortcut I found in the beginning about 1/3 of this level is skipped. Once again you have to pick up a weapon in order to advance.

Part 16: Data storage security.
I just hate levels that start with a 50 seconds long elevator ride. The three ladies I kill are triggers, the first one to unlock the door, the two at the end for activating the lift.

Part 17: Data storage terminal revisited.
The only thing that matters in this level is to keep moving while blasting enemies, although that can be easier said than done. Narrow corridors and lots of debris prevent strafe jumping from being used in most places.

Part 18: Tram hub station.
A lot of good timing with just about everything is needed here, and I can't say I failed with that part. Just like Hannibal and Data storage terminal corridors are often filled with debris and have low ceilings, preventing strafe jumping in many areas. To make Cortez move a little faster I relieve him of the task to kill enemies, the console to rotate the tram is only activated when he enters the room.

Part 19: Tram rail.
It's a good thing that the gun on the tram has infinite ammo. This is a mystery level as well, or something. Two identically played runs through this level can have as much as a 20 seconds difference. I have no idea how this is done (better call up Raven on this one), but this is one of those runs with 20 seconds improvement.

Part 20: Data processing terminal.
On my way back to Sledge I pass through an enemy infested room where you have to kill certain enemies for the door to unlock. Which enemies that are required to kill I don't know, but I do know that the strategy I use in that room is the fastest. For once you also have a competent marine with you, Sledge is (compared to your former partners) a super soldier, he can handle huge bunch of enemies on his own and help speed up crucial fights.

Part 21: Data processing security.
A button hunt level, starting with another endless elevator. Here I make good use of Sledge, leaving lots of enemies behind me for him to take care of. It is necessary to shoot the teleporters (spherical things) otherwise the lady fight will take almost twice as long because of unlimited amounts of enemies. The reason to why I shoot the helmet on the ground is that a serious physics bug (shame on you Raven) can cause Sledge to get stuck on this helmet. In this level a few things don't go quite as planned. I miss a point blank railgun shot (the only time I've ever missed that shot), I fail to bypass a trigger causing a gladiator to spawn (I was completely unprepared for the gladiator when it came around the corner), my rocket burst failed to kill the tank directly (the only time it did), and still this is 15 seconds faster than my second fastest try which was 10 times smoother.

Part 22: Data processing terminal revisited.
A very short and cinematic level, I think the sole purpose is to show the Tower guardian or something. And I can't move before I do either.

Part 23: Data networking terminal.
I'm really getting tired of all these elevators. The trick during the security alert is to destroy the teleporters before they can spawn any enemies, for each spawned enemy you lose about three seconds. I fire a rocket at the end to keep myself alive. The elite soldiers will otherwise push you over the edge when firing at you, and they do hit because you don't have any room to move around. A little Matrix action as well at the end, a railgun shot miss my head with an inch or so.

Part 24: Data networking security.
Another very smoothly played part. When fighting the Tower guardian the black matter gun is only useful as long as he stay on the ground, once he start to fly around the dark matter shots move too slow to be of any good use. His movement pattern in the air is completely random, there is no way to predict where he's going so I rely on laser guided rockets when he start to fly around. After activating the tower you have a fixed amount of time before your new objective will be set, I use that time to pick up some ammo I need.

Part 25: Nexus core.
This is one of the more random levels in this game. Sometimes enemies decide to chase you and sometimes they decide to run away from you, and depending on what they choose to do the result will vary a lot. Things doesn't get much better when you have to fight the toughest enemies in the game in a sealed room with no way of getting out before all of them are dead. In that area weapon choice and timing of shots is extremely crucial. There is some light in the dark though, this level feature a sequence break. After the elevator you can unlock the door to your left by killing the Tank with the dark matter gun, the shot drag the body to the door and unlock it, allowing you to slip through and bypassing a lot of button hunting. This saves a good amount of time and ammo, which is needed afterwards. The reason I fire one last rocket in the narrow corridor with the elite soldiers is because sometimes another three soldiers are spawned, its a random event so I fire that rocket just in case.

Part 26: The nexus.
No I do not use a health cheat. When you exit a level with HP lower than 25 it regenerates to 25 in the beginning of the next level. This level is extremely easy, strafe jump, strafe jump, strafe jump, kill easy boss, wait for recharge, kill easy boss again, wait for big brain to appear, kill big brain, done. I abuse a health station by starting to refill health, then turn away but staying in the vicinity of it. This way it continues to refill my health while I shoot at the brain. The cool thing is that I kill the brain with the very last rocket I have.